It was now 11 March, and Mike had already been to Arezzo, around Florence, and off for hiking and exploring in Cinque Terre with Pall. We had been planning all along to go to Bologna for the weekend of the 13-14 March, but the news of the weather was not good. While we had been battling blowing ice crystals in Liguria, across Italy in Emilia-Romagna the city of Bologna was buried in 20 inches of new snow. Fabio, our “Italian son” since meeting him 2 years ago in California (and me visiting him several times here since), had our weekend all planned for us. We had a reservation in Bologna for a nice hotel near the center piazza, and he had reservations for us at two of his favorite restaurants: Riva Bella, about 20 minutes outside of Bologna in a rural setting; and another restaurant specializing in porcini mushroom dishes, but a 2-hour drive into the mountains from Bologna. We contacted Fabio, and told him that we realized that 20 inches of snow changed all of his plans, so we convinced him to accept OUR invitation to come to Florence, instead, where we would host HIM.
That plan set, we collected our laundry on “speed dry” (hanging on radiators all over the apartment), went early to the San Ambrogio marketplace to buy bufala mozzarella from Gennaro for Paola (who loves it), and caught a train for Spello, another hour south of Arezzo, in Umbria. I called ahead to Paola and reserved a second night (since we didn’t have to get back to go to Bologna), and we passed through Cortona and Arezzo to see new snow on all the hills surrounding the towns, and lingering in the shady spots near the train station platforms in the valley.
We arrived to find Leonardo at the station waiting for us, standing under an umbrella in the 2 inches of hail (“grandine,” a new word for me) that had just fallen before we arrived. We tread carefully to the car, and arrived just as lunch was being served. Paola and Robespier greeted Mike, but Arianna was away with her Spanish class for a week in Valencia, and Giorgia was studying at the university—so just the five of us for lunch. First, we had “strongozzi,” thick spaghetti whose name means “shoe strings,” which Mike loved. Robespier had cooked sauce in a separate pot without salt, so Mike had a whopping big serving, and ate it all, not knowing that the pasta was just the first course. Next came borlotti beans cooked with a pig’s foot (“zampa”), but I knew this dish and made certain I only got beans, not skin and fat (I have watched Paola in the past—and learned how to do this!). When the roasted tomatoes came out, I had to reach for my camera: Robespier had put toothpicks in the two without salt, so that Mike could have his share and the rest of us could have “real” roasted tomatoes, WITH salt.
Mike's unsalted tomatoes were marked with toothpicks
After we talked a while (I was translating as fast as I could, to keep Mike in the conversation), we took a short walk with Leonardo to the town square. On the way, we passed something I had never noticed before: a “porta dei morti” or “door for the dead.” Leonardo explained that they are always small, with a very narrow space at the bottom, and are where the dead were carried out of the house in medieval times. Then, the doorway was closed with masonry, never to be used again. Here is an image of one, and I saw them everywhere once he had pointed the first one out to us.
One of the "Doors of the Dead" in Spello
When Paola had finished with cleaning up after lunch, Leonardo, Paola, Mike and I got into the car and drove for a walk to Assisi. We were virtually alone, walking from the city gate at the south of town toward the basilica of St. Francis. First, we had a wonderful view of La Rocca Maggiore, a fortress above the city that was built, destroyed, and rebuilt several times. Leonardo told us that it is lit up at night, and separated from the lower part of Mt. Subasio and Assisi by woods, so the night view of La Rocca makes it appear to be floating over Assisi, in the air, because of the dark, unlit woods surrounding the base of the fortress.
Castello la Rocca Maggiore, above Assisi atop Mt. Subasio
No issue here—Mike is a lover of sweets, as is Paola. This window was stocked with every Umbrian delicacy available, and got both Mike’s and Paola’s attention as we passed.
Captured our attention with all of these sweet pastries!
Near the center of town, the ancient Roman columns from the Temple of Minerva still stand, outside a church constructed on the site much later. The Temple was built while Assisi was still “Asisium,” the original Roman name for the city, and is one of the many remaining structures left behind by Roman architects.
The Roman columns for the Temple of Minerva
Rain and unstable weather meant umbrellas were on hand, but the residual piles from the afternoon hailstorm were still melting in corners, the streets and squares still wet.
Not raining, just still all wet from the hailstorm earlier
The work crews are furiously trying to replace the street utilities and pave the streets with new stone blocks, lifted into place by this high-suction equipment. These men were fitting the stones, one at a time, and preparing the sandy bed to bank the street toward the drainage systems near the gutters, for control of runoff from storms. Several streets were torn up at once, trying to get all of the work done before the arrival of tourists, especially for Good Friday and Easter week.
New conduits beneath the ground, and then new paving stones on top
We walked toward the Basilica, and arrived at 6 p.m., just minutes after the basilica had closed for the day. Leonardo and Paola were very apologetic to Mike, but he still got to see Assisi, the basilica from the outside, and the scale of two churches, one on top of the other. There is a lot more than just the basilica and St. Frances to recommend Assisi, and he was enjoying the introduction.
Mike's first sight of the basilica and campanile
This is the view from the lower church, as the lights were lit for the evening. Leonardo vowed to bring Mike back later, to make certain that he had a chance to see one of the treasures of Umbria.
Both the lower and upper churches, but closed for the day
This was a little window above a chapel on the way back through town, as the daylight was failing, and the little cross cast a shadow beside the window behind it. Nice little detail, I thought. (Would have been a good image for my Nikon and a tripod!)
Little chapel's cross, and the cast shadow
These tassels were hanging outside a tapestry and linens shop, ornate and complicated, but appealing to someone with a more formal home than mine, certainly.
Embroidered curtain panels and ornate tassels
This is a display of the typical offerings of Assisi for pilgrims of St. Frances and Santa Chiara (St. Claire, who worked with St. Francis and founded an order of nuns, the “Poor Claires”). All manner of religious items, carved wooden crucifixes, statues for gardens, prayer cards and books, and even wine bottle covers mimicking the nuns’ habits and the monks’ robes can be purchased here. Tourists arriving to see the art of the basilica and the Franciscan religious pilgrims provide the bulk of the income for the city, filled with convents and monasteries, and monks and nuns walking the streets on their way to church services or service labors in the churches.
St. Frances and Santa Chiara souvenirs for sale
We drove back to Spello, picking up Giorgia at the train station on the way, and then returned to Fratello Sole for dinner. Leonardo grilled steak for all of us (Mike’s unsalted), with radicchio walnut salad, tomatoes and bufala mozzarella, and an apple torte made by Paola while we had walked in Spello after lunch. After dinner, the cork came out of a bottle of charged “moscato,” a sweet dessert wine, and we talked until 11:45 about taxes, the black market, Mike’s work, the financial crisis, Obama, corruption and healthcare. Finally, time for bed!
